Explain spying vote

April 25, 2013Letters to the Editor

Thursday of last week, Americans moved closer to losing more 4th Amendment rights when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).

This behind-closed-doors bill disallowed debate on an amendment that would have required a warrant for the government to spy on people.

This bill permits the government to spy on all Internet use without a warrant and without letting a person know that he or she is the target of spying.

Michelle Richardson of the American Civil Liberties Union warned, “As we’ve seen repeatedly, once the government gets expansive national security authorities, there’s no going back.”

It is hard for me to agree with the ACLU and disagree with U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd. But this bill is a clear violation of the 4th Amendment, and I hope U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey and Bob Casey see it that way and vote no on CISPA.